Dear Friends,
This year we are taking a slight departure from our annual bashing of secular Christmas, to urge you to take inventory on the condition of your children’s hearts.
What if you discovered, quite by accident, that your married daughter was flirting with the UPS man? Would you not beg her to remember the vows she made before God and man? And wouldn’t you feel sick if she laughed and continued to engage in such destructive behavior?
Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians implored “…I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” If your children are to spend eternity with Christ, as a godly parent, don’t you see a need to train your children to treasure Him above everything else?
For all the warmth and joy that the Christmas season can bring, it can also become a cesspool of impulsive passions. Or it can be a season of opportunities, uniquely designed to sanctify your family. The caroling missed because of the flu, the must-have toy not purchased because of a scaled back budget, the annual Christmas pie tossed because the cat sampled it, are all occasions to take a peek into where your child’s affections are. For all the hoopla surrounding Christmas, there is disturbingly little emphasis placed on pleasing the One whose birth we are celebrating, and wholly too much importance placed on making ourselves happy
Samuel Rutherford, a Scottish Presbyterian theologian (1600-1661), wrote “… if you see a man shut up in a closed room, idolizing a set of lamps and rejoicing in their light, and you wish to make him truly happy, you would begin by blowing out all his lamps; and then throw open the shutters to let in the light of heaven.”
This Christmas, may we all remember to whom we are betrothed and set our affections fully on Him,
Enjoying Timberdoodle products in a whole new way,
Dan, Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel, and Pearl
www.timberdoodle.com
P.S. Throughout December we plan to be posting old family Christmas videos, details on our favorite Christmas traditions (including camel bags!) and even a Christmas recipe on our Facebook/blog. If that interests you, become Facebook fans and follow Doodleblog to stay in the loop!